1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the aeration of liquids where the mixture of air, or subcomponents (e.g., oxygen), with fluid exiting a bottle improves the ratio of air contacting the fluid and is advantageous to the utility of the fluid. In particular, this invention pertains to a ‘within bottle’ article to aerate wine and similar fluids to enhance the taste, as well as its design, manufacture and usefulness.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multiple wine aeration techniques have been in use for many years. Aeration techniques include opening a bottle and letting it sit for an extended period of time, also known as allowing a bottle to ‘breath’. In addition, swirling the wine in a glass, decanting a wine down the inside surface(s) of a decanter as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,962, or pouring wine through an injection-style aerator (hand held as in U.S. Pat. No. 7,614,614 or ‘bottle opening pourer’ U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,660). Still other ways to create turbulent flow into a liquid is through sieve-style funnels, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,660.
In any case, the wine must be able to exit the bottle, be mixed with air, and be poured into a glass (or similar reservoir) at an acceptable rate to introduce enough air to the fluid to make a palatable difference to the wine, and an efficient pour into the glass. This is particularly useful for ‘young’ wines and heavier red wines such as Cabernet, Merlot, Shiraz and other similar styles or mixtures.